Barack Obama on Monday said his proposed stimulus package would be as big as necessary to shore up the economy and lay the foundations for renewed growth, amid predictions it could match the government’s $700bn financial sector bail-out for size. The US president-elect made the pledge as he unveiled his economic team, to be headed by Tim Geithner, New York Fed president, as Treasury secretary, and Larry Summers, former Treasury secretary under Bill Clinton, as chief White House economic adviser. Obama said Geithner would reach out to countries around the world to craft a “global response” to the financial turmoil and that Summers would also play a “critical role” co-ordinating economic policy as director of the National Economic Council. He gave few details of the wide-ranging stimulus plan but said it would be of a size and scope “necessary to get this economy back on track”. The ambition for Obama’s spending plan is “mind-blowing”, in Lex’s view. Combined with interest rates that are heading towards zero, this is surely the last roll of the “good news” dice.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 at 5:47 and is filed under People. Tagged with Barack Obama, Larry summers, Tim Geithner. Edit this entry.